Chapter Eight: Her

A year had gone by since my arrival at the Institute of Eden. I had difficulty adjusting during the first couple of months, but I settled in eventually. We had a rough start, but the other kids weren’t so bad. Hector kept us all busy throughout the day with testing, training, and tutoring. I didn’t get much alone time anymore. I didn’t mind most of it since it kept my mind off of the bad parts, and Dahlia wasn’t all about any of us moping around over our own tragedies. Still, things were a little harder at night. I had a room to myself a few doors down the girl’s corridor. Dahlia’s room was across from mine. Some of the other rooms were vacant with savants that have come and gone, but the room next to mine remained reserved for a girl I have yet to meet. 

Dahlia had been good company. Dahlia was the oldest of the entire group of savants, and she had been a resident of Eden for five years. She was eighteen getting ready to turn nineteen. Like Hector, she wanted to work with other savants to help them live a normal life on some level. Dahlia’s main area of expertise was telepathy. She could communicate to anyone whereas I can only receive her thoughts. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for her read someone’s mind, but according to her, the strongest minds are the hardest to read. The girl was also born blind, but her blindness gave her the natural ability to feel vibrations like sonar. The vibrations of stationary objects sometimes were hard for her to see, so she did run into things on occasion. People were her favorite because everyone gave off a certain color. Dahlia spent a good amount of her time shadowing Hector around the labs when she wasn’t bothering me. 

Donald, as Hector had already informed me, was a super genius. On top of being incredibly brilliant, the boy had moderate control over atoms, molecules, whatever he needed to make objects appear seemingly out of thin air. He has an easier time doing this if he can manipulate the material of one object that’s similar to what he’s making. He pulled a string from his coat pocket in order to make my hat. Donald was also handy with being able to project most of his thoughts and ideas since, surprisingly, the boy was severely dyslexic. He was always unclear about how long he had been with Eden, but we were both the same age. As awkward as our first meeting was, Donald and I grew on each other. He didn’t spend a lot of time around the others because he felt his mindset was somewhere else, but he didn’t mind my presence around him in his own study. Donald was interesting to talk to, and he had insight on the others. 

One of the biggest surprises I received during my first year here was that Demitry and I got along with each other almost perfectly. Demitry Morello was a year older than me, and unlike most of the others, he was a troublemaker. He refused to fit the social norms and often sported a mohawk with a crazy color. When he started growing fuzz around the rest of his head, Demitry would act on the opportunity to buzz offensive words or designs on the sides until Hector made him shave it down again. He was an oddball and a jerk at times, but Demitry had a big heart. The boy was also the most harmless, which made me think he made up for it with his antics. Demitry had the ability to detect and dissect a person’s emotions. If he tried his hardest, he could sometimes influence them. Ironically, Demitry lacked the sense of touch. 

Daisuke Yamato had been the same age as me, and his abilities were identical to mine. Telekinesis was his specialty among others. Although he had only been part of Eden for three years, Daisuke was the strongest of the entire group. His neural ratio had ranked at sixty percent control, and he could move objects weighing over three tons. Daisuke was someone of focus and precision when it came to his power, knowing the dangers and risks that came from not having control over it. Since our abilities had been identical, Hector appointed Daisuke to be my mentor. Inside the arena, he was hard to work with. He was harsh, hard, and I wanted to kill him most of the time. Outside of the arena, he was like everyone else. I noticed he was snotty towards me from time-to-time, but Dahlia had been convinced it was due to his golden boy title being threatened since I progressed faster than anticipated in the first few months. I didn’t want to make it a competition with him, but he did push my limits. Daisuke had an older brother named Takashi, who worked security for Eden, but I had yet to meet him since he was stationed at another facility alongside another savant. Daisuke suffered brain damage from an accident as a child, which causes him to have seizures on occasion.

The youngest savant was Dorian. Dorian was eight-years-old, and he was brought to Eden as a newborn. The boy was entirely mute from underdeveloped vocal chords, and he was high-functioning mentally challenged. His abilities were kept secret from the rest of the group. Dorian never spoke through telepathy but rather a feeling that made people automatically know what he was thinking. I was fond of him from the start, and he was always by my side during our free time. Dahlia told me once that she had never seen him warm up to someone like he did me, and she found it curious. Dorian was a curious soul. 

Most of the days we had here were good days. Sometimes everything got repetitive since we weren’t often allowed to leave the vicinity alone. Days like that were enough to drive us all crazy. On the other side, Hector would take us out as a group to explore the city and attend whatever festivities were going on because he recognized that we were kids. We weren’t experiments. On regular days, like today, it was mainly filled with routine testing and all of us lounging around. Dahlia would meditate. Daisuke would read. Demitry and I would watch whatever is on the television. Dorian would play with some of his toys on the floor, and Donald would hold up in his study. 

Once a month, Hector would test all of us both physically and psychologically. This was done to see if our neural capacity had grown or reach plateau and if our current abilities were getting stronger or weaker. Out of all of us, Demitry is the only one whose abilities had reach plateau. He told me once that he was glad because he didn’t want to imagine feeling someone’s emotions on a deeper level. As harmless his ability was, some emotions greatly affected the boy. Emotions were destructive, and he never wanted to gain that kind of control over someone. He was harmless now, but he could have become lethal. Dahlia was beginning to plateau not long after she gained the ability to faintly see someone’s energy, or “aura”, emit from the vibrations given off by their body. Donald remained a sponge. There were no changes in Dorian. Daisuke’s growth had slowed down where my abilities were increasing every day. A part of me felt that Daisuke wasn’t fond of this fact, but he kept it to himself. 

We had one bad day out of the entire year. Delilah was another savant a year older than Dorian. They were close friends. Her older brother was Daryl, a sixteen-year-old. I wasn’t ever around them much, so I wasn’t fully aware of what their abilities were. The only time I witnessed anything of Daryl was when he turned a lightbulb on with his hand. I had been three months into my time at Eden when Delilah suffered from an aneurism during a test and died. Daryl had been distraught when he found out. I remember him tearing through the lab during his confrontation with Hector, which caused the rest of us to flee the area. The confrontation turned violent when the security team came in, and Daryl wreaked havoc on the entire squad. The facility went on lockdown, so none of us could retreat to the elevator. I’ll never forget the crazed look in Daryl’s eyes when he turned his attention to the rest of us just like I’ll never forget Dorian hiding behind me and squeezing my hand. I don’t want to think about what could have happened, if Daisuke was unable to defend everyone, or if Hector had not shot him right then and there. I guess the fear of what could have happened overpowered knowing what did. Some abilities put massive strain on the brain, and Daryl had a psychotic break in the wake of his sister’s death. That is what Hector explained to me. 

It was odd how quickly everything went back to normal after that. I remained in shock for a couple weeks, but the others said it happened on occasion. Death wasn’t uncommon. Every savant, despite their abilities, had some form of ailment. Some were nothing to be concerned with. Others, like in Delilah’s case, were fatal. It was something I had to adjust to, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last time. Eden wasn’t a summer camp. Again, however, most days were good days. Everything was going okay, and I was enjoying the company of those around me. I didn’t feel like such a freak anymore. Everything was good. 

Then she showed up. 

I sat on the edge of the examination table while Hector finished up looking over the new results for this month. I watched him read over the papers attached to his clipboard in an attempt to read his expressions. Possibly his mind. I wasn’t able to do that yet. His face showed fascination with what he was reading, and a gentle smile came about. I wiggled my foot in anticipation with my hoodie in my lap. 

“Well, you haven’t degenerated any, so that’s a good sign.” Hector started to say. “What’s interesting about the physical results is that your bones appear more�"reinforced.”

I cocked my head at him. “Reinforced? What does that mean?”

Hector left his clipboard on the counter behind him. “To simply put, you could probably fall off a building and not break anything. It’s like there is a protective force around your bones, and it’s generating itself throughout your body.”

“So, does that mean I’m invincible?” I cracked a laugh. 

“Oh, no. A stray bullet to a vital area will definitely still kill you. You could put someone through a wall though, if that makes you feel better. Not saying you should, but you could.” Hector paused. “It’s amazing how fast you’re catching up to Daisuke.”

I stretched my hands above my head. “Yeah, he’s been brutal lately in the arena.” I recalled a moment where Daisuke flung a one ton cube at my head to see if I’d deflect it. “Very brutal.” 

“Daisuke’s competitive. He’s just showing you who the alpha dog is. Although I’m more than positive you two will be on the same level, and soon. Daisuke never advanced this quickly.” 

“Still inconclusive?”

“Still inconclusive. We’re making adjustments to the scanner, so hopefully we’ll have an answer for you.” Hector started making his way out of the examination room. “I’m going to go see about these results, so you’re done here for today.”

That was all I needed to hear. Even though this wasn’t a doctor visit, I hated examines. I didn’t care what it was for, I wasn’t fond of being poked at. So, I was happy when Hector decided to let me go early. By this point, I was familiar with my surroundings in the underground facility. I could navigate the hallways easily without worrying about getting lost. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I left Hector’s lab and wandered around for a while, trying to find something or someone to occupy my time with. Dorian was still in his tutoring, and Dahlia was out with Demitry on a trip into the city. Daisuke wasn’t too keen on me enough to hang out. 

Having no other solution to my problem, I made my way down to the study to see if Donald was busy, which he almost always was. I wasn’t even at the entrance yet and I could hear the boy clanging and banging around his lab. He sounded like he was struggling with something, and an enormous wave of crashing and clashing sent him shouting in anger as I saw a single gear roll out into the hallway. A cheesy grin came to my face as Donald continued to curse his creation, and I slipped in through the entrance. I didn’t see him at first because he left into the other portion of his study. The section ahead of me was his lab. Unlike the other labs in the facility, his was smaller and cramped with unused parts and crumbled ideas on paper. The floors were often scuffed and smudged with oil. It was his own little world, and he spent more time there than he did with the rest of the group. Off to the side, in another area of his study, was a room that reminded me of a compact library. The tiles changed to a wood floor and soft colored walls that contained magnificent paintings. Donald had shelves that lined both sides of the room that were filled with books and journals containing pictures of his inventions. In the middle sat his desk. I figured this is where he had been. 

I wandered into his lab to see what he had been working on that was so frustrating, and I came across a block of metal that was the combination of screws, gears, and a mess of wiring. Another block was in shambles on the floor. As usual, I had no idea what he was working on this time. I wanted to examine the pieces of machinery further, but it probably wasn’t the smartest idea to touch things that weren’t mine. I made my way to the other room, hoodie over my shoulder, and found Donald projecting a large, 3-D blueprint in the space above his desk. He had his hands clasped behind his back, and I could hear him grumbling to himself as he shifted the plans around and dissected different sections of it. 

I snuck in behind him. “Well, that looks massively complicated.” 

“You have no idea, Desley.” Donald replied without a flinch. “Come to see me about something? Did you break your music player again?” 

“Nah, I just wanted to see if you needed any company.” I eyeballed the blueprints. “What is all of this?”

Donald rubbed his eyes and took a seat behind his desk. “A machine I want to build. At least the prototype for it, but we’re so limited on the technology I need to even get started on it.”

I sat on the edge of his desk. “You’re not working on that other project anymore?”

“They have the technology for that, thanks to me. I think they’re in the finishing stages right now, so the savants involved aren’t needed for it.” He paused. “Except for one, but she kinda floats around between locations.” 

“The same girl you all keep hushed about?”

“Yep, same girl. She’s suppose to come here at some point, but we’re unsure of when that is.” Donald looked at me. “You haven’t met Dame, yet, have you?”

I shook my head at him. “Nope, not yet. Why?”

Donald fell silent, and his face went blank for a few seconds. “Hmm.” 

“What?” I was puzzled. 

The young genius shrugged his shoulders at me. “Oh, no reason.”

I stared at Donald as he turned his attention back to his blue print. I started to open my mouth a few times to say something, but his responses to me were confusing. Curious. I narrowed my eyes at him. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

“Donnie…”

Donald sighed and looked at me again. “You’ll see for yourself, eventually.”

I frowned and slouched, shoving my hands in my jean pockets. “Whatever you say, chief.” I glanced at the blue print, which Donald had enlarged a section of. “So, what does it do?”

Donald rotated the section he had blown up. “Something that is going to achieve all of Eden’s dreams one day. No more sickness. No inequality. No more limits. Possibly, no more death. Bringing everything balance and harmony for the first time since the dawn of civilization.” Donald seemed to have gotten lost in his thoughts by the way his eyes showed him being taken away in fantasy. 

I raised my eyebrows at the boy as I waited for him to finish his explanation. I jerked forward in hopes that my movement would catch his attention and bring him back. “Ground control to Major Don.”

“As soon as I have the parts.” He blinked. 

“Do you really think you can build something that conquers death?”

“People conquer death every day in some form or another. I just want to make it permanent.”

I dwelled on the thought for a moment. The entire existence behind Eden was to provide a safe haven and rehabilitation for savants to have some degree of a normal life, and Eden also wanted to improve the existence of mankind. They wanted to rid the human race of all of the bad perks. A better quality of life to bring us all closer together as a species and launch us into the next type of civilization. Savants were studied immensely for this reason because we held the keys. We were the evolved. Somehow, we gave Eden hope that one day every human could come to understand each other. I couldn’t see how given the fact that we barely understood ourselves. 

“Isn’t life and death already a balance?” I asked Donald.

“Sure, if you put it on the same field as war and peace.” Donald replied. “Death brings pain and discord.” 

“And you think life doesn’t?”

“And you think peace doesn’t?”

I tilted my head. “I don’t quite follow you. I thought peace was something Eden wanted to achieve?”

“Peace and harmony are two completely different things, Desley. Peace is suppression. Harmony is true balance.”

I could only look at him with the lacking amount of thoughts that were going through my head. I had only known Donald for a year, but I had never seen him get this philosophical over any of his ideas. It was possible that the tea, which was delivered to him every week by monks from a nearby temple, was starting to get to his head. The next time I saw him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was levitating off the ground. Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised anyway considering where I live. Daisuke floats upside down for the fun of it. 

“Yeah, I’m gonna go.” I started getting up. “This is getting a little too deep for me.”

“Whatever you say, Morgan.” Donald fixed the glasses on his face and continued to study his design. 

I swiftly left Donald’s study and wandered around the hallways for a while. Some of what the boy had said bounce around in my head, especially his philosophy on life and death. I supposed there was truth to it, as dark as it was to admit. Other questions came to mind about the mystery girl I have yet to meet but appeared to have everyone else on edge for her unforeseen arrival. I thought that maybe she was weird or just super powerful. The only person who didn’t seem bothered by her coming here was Daisuke, so maybe they were friends. My mind was wrapped in it. 

I decided to enter the arena to get some practice in. At least with being by myself, I didn’t have to worry about my tutor launching anything unexpected at my head. The weighted blocks were neatly lined up from lightest to heaviest, several of each category. I stood in the middle of the arena, lights beaming down on my head, and started with the lightest blocks first. I reached both of my hands out to them, focusing all of the energy in my body to channel out through my hands. I imagined this energy wrapping itself around the blocks, and I began to pull it back. As if it were like magic, the lightest blocks began to move on their own without resistance. They lifted into the air and casually came towards me in a group. I had to concentrate on the fluctuation of force, keeping it smooth and steady so as to not lose control and either drop the blocks, send them shooting in every direction, or make them implode. 

I shifted my hands and spread my arms to the side when the blocks came close enough, willing them to move in a circle around me. They circulated my body slowly, at first. Releasing a little more force, the blocks increased in speed. Then they spun around even faster. I wanted to see how fast I could get them to rotate around me. I unleashed more force into the blocks, willing them to circulate around me so fast that I could feel the wind coming off of them. There was a muffled pounding in my ears that began to tickle like a hummingbird’s wings. I began to amaze myself after seeing the blocks had began to blur together in a single, gray color. However, for that split second, I had lost concentration. A larger fluctuation of power escaped from my body, and the wave shot the blocks all over the arena. One block struck the floor so hard that it left a crater. Another block took out a row of lights from above. A block caved into the ceiling. The last block wedged itself into one of the thick, glass windows. 

As all of this happened, I ducked and covered my head to avoid getting hit. After seeing the aftermath of my experiment, I feared having to explain the damages to the arena this time. I wasn’t allowed to be careless. As I glanced around to look at what became of the blocks, I felt a tremendous amount of heat coming from my palms. I turned my hands up to examine them and found the palms to be a blistering red. There was no pain. In fact, I still felt energy accumulating in my hands on its own. Puzzled, I tried to bring both palms together. The closer they got, the more they felt like the identical ends of a magnet trying to push away from each other. I pulled them back immediately when I felt this sensation. It probably wasn’t safe to further experiment without being supervised. So, I tried bringing my hands closer together. 

The closer I forced my hands together, the stronger they tried to push away. At one point when I was daring to get my palms as close as possible to each other, the air between my hands became hot, and there was a sudden spark that made fling my arms away in startle. This was something new. It was possible I was developing a new ability, and I was excited. I became determined to see what would happen if I forced them together. I glanced at my left hand before looking at my right, and I slowly began to push them together again. Inches from touching, I could feel the heat begin to stir between my palms. Sparks followed soon after. One spark. Two. Three. My fingertips could almost touch, and I saw the space that remained between my hands begin to shift and bend. It reminded me of the incident on the bridge. 

A tiny ball of light started to take shape. It felt like a miniature star in my hand. Then I made the mistake of letting my fingers touch. The speck of light exploded from my hands and shot away from my body, the force knocking me clear off my feet and nearly blinding me. I must have been blown back quite a ways. Another explosion sounded among a loud popping noise, the floor shaking beneath me. I didn’t want to move at first because my bones felt like they had received an electrical shock. The wind had been knocked out of my lungs temporarily, heart pounding out of my chest. When I began to calm down and muster up the courage, I slowly sat up to see what had happened. Dust and debris lingered through the air, but I could already see the lengthy gouge in the floor just several feet ahead of me. As the air cleared more, I saw that the gouge led straight to the heaviest block the facility had possession of, which was ten tons worth of steel. Ten tons worth of steel that had been split right down the middle. I couldn’t believe my eyes at first, but then a cheesy grin stretched across my face. 

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I almost tripped over my own feet when I bursted from the elevator exit, overjoyed and excited to tell the others about my accidental discovery. I had no idea what I had done, but I needed to tell them about it. I discovered a new trick, and it was something I had yet to see Daisuke perform. I rushed down the corridor and skipped several steps on my way up to the lobby. I briefly looked at the security guard holding his post near the door, who didn’t appear the least bit interested in my haste but rather kept his nose in the magazine he was reading. I climbed the second set of stairs in the lobby and found the others, except for Dorian, gathered in the commons area on the second level. Demitry was watching the television with his leg hanging over the arm rest. Daisuke was on the opposite end with a book levitating in front of his face. Dahlia was in the middle of setting up a bowl of fruit on the table before everyone, being the first to turn her attention to me. 

“Well, Desley, your vibes look very colorful today.” She smiled as I stood at the head of the stairs. 

“I just did something kinda scary but so freakin’ rad at the same time!” I said, causing the two boys to turn around.

“If this has anything to do with deleting your search history, I don’t want to know.” Demitry sounded serious at first, but then he cracked a grin. 

I shook my head and approached the back of the couch. “I don’t know how to describe it. It’s like my energy became concentrated to one spot, and then it just�"BOOM!” I threw my hands out in glee, accidentally knocking the table away.

Dahlia guided the table back to its initial place. “What do you mean?”

“It just exploded from my hands. Scared the hell out of me, but it split the ten ton block in half!” I bounced in place awaiting everyone’s reaction. 

“Wow, the ten tonner? You’re packing some serious power, Des.” Demitry smirked, holding his fist up. “That’s gnarly as hell! I wanna go look at it.” 

“As reckless as it probably was to experiment on your own, I’m pretty impressed as well.” Dahlia smiled at me. “Congratulations, Desley! You’re learning more about yourself.”

Daisuke had been silent for the whole time, which made me nervous. As odd as it was, I was mainly seeking his approval since he was my mentor and all. He motioned for his book to float around to his eye line, and I got the impression that he wasn’t pleased by it. Everyone else was starting to look to him, too. 

Daisuke had taken a deep breath. “You really shouldn’t have done anything without my presence being there.” He began, making me think he was getting ready to scorn me. He continued. “I would have really loved to have seen that, Desley. It sounds like I need to start stepping my game up.” 

I smiled at Daisuke, and he smiled back at me. I threw my hands in the air for victory, accidentally shifting the table again before Dahlia moved it back. I danced around behind the couch to show how happy I was to have everyone’s approval. I did something cool for the first time. Dahlia laughed and clapped for me as I darted around like a happy-go-lucky idiot. Demitry rested his head in his hand and made another somewhat crude remark in regards to my dance moves, and I responded by flipping my middle finger at him. A smirk came to Daisuke’s face as he told me to think fast. I was confused at first, but then the boy launched his book at my head. Panicked alarmed throughout my body. However, the focus came almost natural this time, and I stopped the book a foot in front of my nose. 

“Not this time!” I pointed at Daisuke, who seemed about as surprised as I was. I tried to hide it. Amidst my winnings, Daisuke then flicked a finger at me and shoved me off my feet. I landed on my back near the head of the stairs, a string of curses escaping my mouth as everyone snickered and gave way to laughter. It was all in good fun. I kept my eyes closed to let the defeat sink in. I would have gotten to my feet and devise a retaliation plan, but the thought left me when I heard footsteps stop above my head. The laughter had turned to silence. There was a presence looming over me, and the eerie feelings I had prompted me to keep my eyes shut for my own good. I wasn’t a good listener though, peeping one eye open to seeing a girl standing over me. 

I had never seen this girl before. Her skin reminded me of a porcelain doll but not as ghostly. The girl’s hair was a dark brown, and it barely touched her shoulders. Her eyes were a deep emerald, and her face was almost mesmerizing. I had never seen any girl like her before. How beautiful she was I couldn’t find the words for. It was just too bad that her attitude had to ruin it. After breaking my attention away from her face, I realized she had been looking down at me with a dull and mildly annoyed expression, adjusting the sun hat on her head that went with the casual dress she wore. 

“Another one? I thought Hector stopped taking in strays like you a long time ago.” The girl said with a snotty tone. 

I stared up at her with my mind taking a moment to register what she said. I guess, I didn’t expect such rudeness to come from a pretty face. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” She crossed her arms. “I just don’t get why Hector insists on bringing in moderately boring subjects with basic abilities.” 

“Now, you just wait a minute!” I became agitated. She didn’t wait though. The girl stepped around me to approach the others near the couch. 

“I’m glad to see you’re all looking well.” She held her arms out to all of them. “Have any of you seen Donald? I need to speak with him before I get settled in.” 

I climbed to my feet behind her. I wasn’t nearly done with what I had to say in response to her remarks towards me. “Hey, I think what you said was uncalled for, lady!” 

She ignored me. 

“First off, you don’t know a damn thing about me. Secondly, just who the hell do you think you are coming in here and shooting your mouth off like that?” I raised my voice at her. 

She ignored me harder. 

I gritted my teeth together. “Ice crotch, I’m talking to you!”

The girl slowly turned around, the others either shaking their heads or covering their faces. 

“Exactly what makes you so special that you have to be such a rude a*s for no particular reason? I bet you don’t even know my name.” I crossed my arms at her. 

The girl didn’t say anything to me but continue to give me her annoyed expression. Her eyebrow twitched. I was getting ready to say something else, but I noticed a bright circle taking shape under my feet. I looked down at it, greatly puzzled as to where it came from. I was unsure if it was my doing, but I quickly got my answer when another circle appeared a few feet above my head. The girl gave a snobby smile, and I fell through the circle beneath me. I didn’t know what was happening, screaming as I was rapidly falling through the same room over and over again and catching the embarrassed faces of my peers with each pass. After a few seconds, however, it became clear to me that I was falling through the space between the two circles that had appeared. 

“You are Desley Morgan. I studied your file on my way over here.” The girl began. “You exhibit basic telekinesis with mild combustion capabilities. Your neural ratio remains unregistered. Obtained your abilities through a head injury due to not looking both ways before crossing the street. First surge at fifteen-years-old. Slightly above average improvement at sixteen-years-old. No telepathy. Nothing interesting about you that Daisuke can’t already do.” She crossed her arms again. “And me? Well, I generate portals, and I’m one of the lead designers for a new teleportation machine Eden has been working on for the past several years. No one can do what I can do. As for you, well, just about any savant has your abilities.” 

“Desley split apart the ten ton.” Demitry spoke up in my defense.

“I can split a ten ton, too.” The girl countered. Demitry gave thought to what she said before confirming she was correct. He remembered his own observations of her abilities. 

The girl continued to belittle me as I fell through her portals, but she stopped speaking as much when she noticed I was holding up my middle finger with each pass through. I was going to show her I wasn’t just some stray Hector picked up. As Dahlia tried to convince the girl to stop messing with me, I tried to concentrate on the fruit bowl. I waited until I had enough force built up in my hand. I was only going to have a second to make this work. The girl had her attention turned to Dahlia. As I passed between the portals again, I hurled the fruit in the bowl at the girl with a strong yank. Bananas, oranges, cherries, blackberries, and strawberries pelted the snotty teenager. Some of the fruit even stained her dress. As soon as this happened, the bottom portal closed, and I slammed into the floor. 

“My dress!” She yelled.

“Not so basic now, am I?” I smarted. 

I fell through one of her portals again. This time, however, I was flung across the commons when she turned the exit portal sideways. I crashed to the floor again and skidded before hitting the wall. Dahlia covered her mouth. Daisuke returned to reading his book. Demitry watched with pure amusement. I hopped back to my feet and started marching towards her, waving my hand and knocking the sun hat off of her head. We were both highly infuriated with each other. We got in the other’s face and started shouting back and forth. I couldn’t understand what was being said because our words blurred together in a battle to see who could be louder than who. She would shove me occasionally. I’d smack her hand away in every attempt. 

“Woah! Hey! Would both of you chill the hell out?” Donald was suddenly between us, keeping us arms length apart. 

“She started it!” I yelled at Donald. I gave him a summary of what happened, and he didn’t say anything to me. In fact, all he did was breathe and give me a pat on the shoulder. The genius urged the girl to let it go and follow him so that they could discuss what they needed to in private. She glared at me once more before agreeing to leave to Donald’s study. I watched them leave down the steps as an older boy in a security uniform began making his way up with a few bags of luggage. I caught a better look at his face as he got closer, and I saw he looked similar to Daisuke. 

“Takashi!” Daisuke shouted, throwing himself over the couch and running to his brother. Takashi dropped the luggage he was carrying to give Daisuke a hug, and it was apparent to me that they hadn’t seen each other for a long time. They exchanged words with each other in their native language, occasionally glancing to me before looking back to each other and laughing lightly. I studied Takashi’s uniform. It had the same dark shirt, pants, and tactical boots combined with a utility belt as every Eden security officer, but the patch on his vest read “Security Escort.” 

I approached the others to give the two brothers space. Dahlia had her lips between her fingers, unable to conjure a word to say to me as Demitry shook his head. 

“What?” I looked at Demitry, wondering what was going through his mind. 

“Oh, nothing.” He snickered more. “Just you might permanently be on Dame’s bad side after that spectacle. No one’s ever stepped to her like that.”

I leaned on the back of the couch. “Well, she didn’t need to be so rude. I was having a very good day, y’know?” Something felt off for a minute as I spoke. A conversation with Donald. A memory. His words. The pat on the shoulder. The name Demitry gave. I jumped out of my skin. “Wait! That’s Dame!? That’s the girl everyone’s been so hushed over!?”

Dahlia nodded. “You just made an enemy for life, Des.”